Eileen Tiernan ’ s mother , Patricia Tiernan , holds the Bible during her promotion to lieutenant in 2010 .
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Tiernan remembers on more than one occasion being forced to do pushups with the rest of the academy class due to Tolomeo ’ s habit of responding “ yeah ,” instead of “ yes , sir ” to the drill instructors .
“ Tolomeo , stop saying ‘ yeah ,’ you ’ re going to get us all in trouble ,” Tolomeo remembers Tiernan demanding under her breath at the sight of the drill instructors approaching .
It didn ’ t faze Tiernan that she was the lone female in a class full of men but when physical training ended each day , she was sure to make a beeline to the female locker room — on a mission to grab some water pressure before the mob of guys started up their showers and left her with nothing but a trickle .
“ I think she had it even harder than we did because she was
Eileen Tiernan moves into the chief ’ s office at the Woodland Park Police Department .
alone in [ her locker room ],” considers Lou DeLuca , who also remembers going through the academy with Tiernan , before they both began working together at WPPD . “ She had to fend for herself without anyone there to help her , while rushing to get the uniform together and making sure everything was polished and clean .”
But after getting to know Tiernan , it became clear that she could fend for herself . Tolomeo saw this for himself during the first few years that he was a member of Totowa Local 80 . One night , he responded to a scene outside of a club where fights were breaking out in a crowd of 200 people . Tiernan was one of the officers who responded to Tolomeo ’ s call for backup . Amid the commotion in the crowd , Tolomeo watched a civilian flick a cigarette butt at Tiernan . He had to fight back his urge to defend the officer who felt like a sister to him , and knew that she could handle the situation
44 NEW JERSEY COPS ■ AUGUST` 2018